Wardrobe trunk



Oct. 2, 1945. w. H. B RACKEN WARDROBE TRUNK Filed Aug. 15, 1941 2Sheets-Sheet l y pfl VENTOR.

Oct. 2, 1945. H. BRACKEN WARDROBE TRUNK Filed Aug. 15

, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 2, 1945 ITED] STATES PATENTOFFICE;

wall-2 :12:55. Y;

2 Application August 15,1941, Serial'No.406,951

k 2 Claims. (cl. 190- 13) This invention relates to new and useful im-'provements in wardrobe trunks, and-relates more particularly to a noveltrunk having a plurality of superimposed sections, one containing anumberof drawers for carrying accessories or smaller articles .ofapparel such as shirts, underwear, stockings, and the like, and theother having special' body-garment-supporting means.

Wardro'be trunks of the art usually provide a body-garmen-t-carryingsection extending the full depth of the. trunk when such trunk is inupright position, hangers being suitably supported at the upperend ofthe trunk, and the garments are thus permitted to hang downwardly. Thisarrangement is noteconomical for the reason that suflicient depth mustbe provided for garments of the maximum length and unused space resultswhen shorter garments are packed. These trunks are normally formed witha similarly shaped section whichis hinged to the body-garment-carryingsection, and Whichis-provided with drawers. In trunks of this characterthe two sections are difiicult to open and close when completely packedwith arments.

Another objection to this type of wardrobe trunk resides in the factthat no suitable intermediate support can be provided for theopposedside walls of the body-garment section, and the result is a veryshaky structure after a relatively shortperiod of use of the kind thattrunks are normally subjected to;

It is one of the principal objects of the present invention to provide atrunk formed with a plurality of superimposed sections, the lowermostsection having a plurality of drawers for accessories and smallerarticles of wearing apparel, and wherein the drawer-supporting meansstrengthens and rigidifies the trunk structure as a whole, andparticularly the upper garment-carrying section. Easy access to thetrunk is provided by means of a single, horizontally-hinged doornormally closing the entire upper end of the trunk, and a second,vertically-hinged front door extending fromthe upper edge of the trunkdown to-a point spaced from, but adjacent to, the bottom thereof. Theopeningof this latter door makes bot-hsections instantly accessiblewithout the strict necessity of opening the upper door.

A further object of the invention isthe provision ofan improvedgarment-carrying frame for a wardrobe trunk and a particularly novelmeans of positivelysupporti'ng a plurality of such frames at the upperand at thelower ends-'there"-- of; More specifically, the upper endof'the bo'dygarment section includes means for suspending from their upperends a plurality of such frames and for engaging the lower ends thereof,urging them against the rear wall of the trunk, and thus preventingpendulous movement when the num-' ber' of garments is insufficient tofill the entire section. V 1

Yet another object of the invention is to pro vide garment-carryingmeans for wardrobe trunks and the like wherein body garments may bequickly placed thereon without danger of'wr-in kling.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, the view showing the front and top doors of the trunk in openposition.

Fig. 2 is a broken top plan view of the struc-- ture shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 315 a broken vertical'section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4' is a broken section showing a modified form of garment-carryingframe.

- Fig. 5 is a broken vertical section taken through the retaining meansfor the lower end of the garment-supporting frames, such section lyingon line 5'--5 of Fig. 4.

. Fig. 6 is a broken section taken on line 6'--6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is abroken plan view of frame shown in Fig. 4'.

The trunk constituting the preferred embodi= ment of the presentinvention isgenerally rectangular in shape, and is designated by thereference numeral- I0 It includes opposed side walls II and 12, a rearwall l3, a bottom wall [4, an upper hinged cover I 5 closing theotherwise open upper end of the trunk, and a front, verticallyhingedcover I6; In accordance with th arrangement shown in Fig. 1, the upperhinged cover [5 is adapted to be lowered into engagement-with the uppermarginal edges of the trunk and thereafter the front hinged cover I6 ismoved into closed position, the upper flanged edge l8 thereof enclosingthe outer or free marginal'edge IQ of cover l5.

Covers l5 and I6 are formed with aplurality of spaced, male interlockingmember's 2| which are-received in; and which cooperate-with, a pluralityof spaced female members 22 positioned along the marginal edges ofopposed side walls II and I2 of the trunk. Front cover I6-- is furtherprovided with a hinged lock- 24 which cooperates-wi'th an aperturedplate 2-5 securedto sidewall 12'. Thezbod y of the trunk further inaportion of the .'46,-when,,viewed as in Fig. 1.

cludes a shallow front wall "extending upwardly from lower wall I4, andthe area between the The trunk is divided into a body-garmenig; carryingsection 35 and a drawer section 36, the

two sections being divided by means of a 'horizontal partition 31, theopposed end portions of Y which are rigidly secured by any suitablemeans to the inner surfaces of opposed sidewalls'll and I2 substantiallymidway between their upper and lower ends. Between horizontal partition31 and lower. wall I4 a plurality of additional partitions 38 and 39 arealso secured at their opposite terminals to side walls I I and I2, and aplurality ofdrawers lfl :are removably positioned betweeneachadjacentpair of horizontal partitions. It will thus be apparent thatsince such horizontal partitions 31, 38 and 39 are firmly secured toopposed side walls II and I2 and to rear wall I3, the entire trunk, andparticularly the side walls thereof, are. much more rigid than the usualwardrobe'trunks wherein the opposed side walls receive their majorsupport at the upper and lower edges thereof.

The. depth of upper or body-garment-carrying section 35 is considerablyless than-is usual in wardrobe trunks, but such reduced depth,

nevertheless, provides ample space for, the carrying of body garments byvirtue of the novel frame or hanger structure designated generally bythe reference numeral 44 carried in such section in the manner now to bedescribed.

Each garment-supporting frame 44 illustrated 'in Figs. 1, 2 and 3includes an upper rail 45, a

lower rail 46 provided with a, coat or shouldersupporting section 41,and vertical supports 48 which maintain upper and lower rails and 46,respectively, in their spaced relation. The vertical supports of thisembodiment are desirably formed from relatively rigid metal rods whichare received at their opposite terminals in metal ferrules 49, which arerigidly secured atthe opposite ends of upper and lower rails45 and 46.Formed integrally with each ferrule, orv suitably secured to the same,is an "outwardlyextending, substantially C shaped supporting bracket orhook 5|.

When a such frame will occupy man's suit coat iscarried on frame. 44;the position shown inFig.

' 1, wherein rail 46 having the coat-supporting portion 41 will bepositioned downwardly, the coat passing over theupper edge of upper rail45 and hanging downwardly on the opposite side thereof. When, however, alonger mans garment, such as a-topcoat, or a lady's dress is carriedthereon, rail 46 withicoatesupporting portions 41 will1be positionedupwardly, and the garment is folded twice around the rails. f

It will be noted from an examination of Figs. 1 and 3 that the uppersurface 53 of the hook portions 5| secured at opposite ends of rail 45extend above the upper edge of such upper rail 45. The same is true ofthe lower surface of hook portions 5| securedat opposite ends oflowerrail Thus, when rail .46- occupies the lowermost position, garmentspassing over the lower edge thereof will be nevertheless held in spacedrelation to horizontal partition 31. Each garment-supporting frame 44 issupported at its upper end on a track 56 which is mounted in spacedrelation to the inner surface of side wall I I and side wall I2 by meansof brackets 51 and 58. The outer or free end of each track 56 isprovided with a hinged extension 59'so that when the trunk is in openposition, as shown in Fig. 1, these hinged extensions may move outwardlyuntil they are in alignment with tracks 56,'and thus hanger structures44 may be moved outwardly beyond the front wall of the trunk. When thetrunk is to be closed, however, the hinged extensions 59 are movedinwardly, and are joined together at their free ends by means ofcooperating locking elements 60. l

Regardless of the size or weight of the body garment carried on theseveral frame structures 44, ample support for the same is provided bymeans of the upper hook portions 5| which are suspended on thetracks 56.In the event that thecombined thickness of the several hanger structuresor frames 44, together with the clothes carried thereon, 'is sufficientto completely fill the upper body-garment-carrying section 35 from rearwall I3 to-front hinged cover I6, no support forthe lower terminals ofthe frame structure is required, since any pendulous movement of suchlower endsjs effectively prevented by the opposed walls when the'trunkis closed; In many instances, however, the section will'notbe completelyfilled, andto prevent any movement whatsoever of the frame structuresandthe garments carried thereon, the following novel means are provided forsecuring the lower end of the outermost frame'structure against forwardmovement, and when such structure is moved to its maximum rearwardposition, the remaining structures are all urged rearwardly; V

Such means comprise one or aplurality of bars 63 having offset endportions 64flwhich are se cured to the upper surface of horizontalpartition 3'Iadjacent to, but spaced from, each side wall I I and I2,respectively. Thus, the entire length of each bar 63, except for, itsterminal portions, is spaced from the upper surface of such partition31, and the lower surface'of each bar is formed with a plurality ofspaced transverse ribs 65. A securing element 61, having an angularextension 68, is provided at its lower end with a substantially T shapedrecess 69 which receives-the bar63 in the manner shown in Fig. 6. Theelement 61 is further provided with a plurality of transverse slots "I0which receive strap members I I. The detail of each strap member isshown in Fig. 5,'and includes loop portions 12 and I3, loop portion 12being received in'the cross-piece I4 formed between slots I6. Upper loop'I3 receives the lower hook'portion 5| in the manner shown in Fig. 1. V

After theseveral garment frames 44 carrying the bodygarments havebeenplaced in the upper section, and suchframes supported on tracks 56 inthe manner previously described, the outermostframeis moved rearwardlyuntil the successiveframes between outermost frame and rear wan I3 arecompressed relatively tightly. Uppermost loop'I3 of the supportingelement 61 is then placeduponlower hook portion 5| of the frame and thesupporting element moved rearwardly. L During such rearward movementwhenthe lowerend of .the T shaped slot-{69 encounters 5, slight pressurefrom the upper end of the securing element causes the lower end of theelement to ride below the transverse rib. When the element is moved toits maximum rearward position, forward movement is prevented byengagement with the opposite side of any given rib 65. One continuousbar 63 may be provided on each side of horizontal partition 31, althoughit is preferred to form two discontinuous bars, as shown particularly inFig. 3.

A slightly modified frame or garment-supporting structure 8| isillustrated in Figs. 4 and 7. This structure includes the spaced,horizontal rails 82 and 83 of the first embodiment, as well as the hookportions 84, formed on the ferrules 85. Rail 82 includes a coat-hangerportion 86. In this instance, however, the vertical supports are hingedat their centers to permit the portion of the device having the coathanger 86 to lie flat, while the coat is being adjusted into positionthereon, and the other half of the device may occupy an uprightposition.

Thus, each vertical support comprises flat bars 88 and 89 formed withgenerally circular, flat, inner terminal portions 90 and BI,respectively. A pivot pin '93 passes through the centers of the circularterminal portions. Both of these circular portions are of the same size,and it will be apparent that as bar 88 is rotated relative to bar 89,there will be no danger of the garments being caught between theportions and sheared. In order to retain the two bars normally inalignment with each other, a ball detent 94 is received in a recessformed in a plate 95, which plate is held against the outer surface ofcircular portion 9| by one head of pivot pin 93. A recess 96 is formedon the inner surface of circular portion 90 to receive the ball detentwhen the bars are in alignment.

The frame or garment-supporting structures of the present invention thushave the advantage of flexibility in use since either end thereof may beplaced uppermost, depending upon the length of garment carried, andregardless of which end is up, the upper end always has the invertedhook elements, from whichthe frame is suspended, and the lower hookelements which receive the loop from supporting member 51. This lattermember is particularly important since, whereas the several frames arerigidly supported, nothing engages the garments carried thereby. Thisdistinguishes the present invention from the devices of the art whereina strap extends across the garments and always leaves a wrinkled area.

WhatIclaim is:

1. A wardrobe trunk comprising a generally rectangular housing providedwith a plurality of hinged covers, a substantially centrally disposed,horizontal partition secured along its opposed lateral edges and rearlongitudinal edge to the adjacent side and rear walls of the housing,imparting rigidity to such walls and dividing the trunk into a lower,clothing-accessory-carrying section, and an upper, body-garment-carryingsection, means at the upper ends of the opposed side walls forsuspending a body-garment-carrying frame, and means adjacent to thelower portion of the body-garment-carrying section for retaining thelower end of said frames against movement, said means comprising a barspaced from the upper surface of said partition, and a member removablyattached to the lower end of said frame, carried by said bar, and meansfor securing the movable member in a desired position on the bar.

2. A wardrobe trunk comprising a generally rectangular housing providedwith an upper hinged cover and a front hinged cover, a substantiallycentrally disposed horizontal partition secured along its opposedlateral edges to the adjacent side walls of the housing, impartingrigidity to such walls and dividing the trunk into a lower,clothing-accessory-carrying section, and an upper, body-garment-carryingsection, means atthe upper ends of the opposed side walls of the housingfor suspending a body-garment-carrying' frame, and means adjacent to thelower portion of the body-garment-carrying section for retaining thelower end of said frames against movement, said means comprising a barspaced from the upper surface of said partition, a plurality of spacedstop members carried thereby, and a movable retaining member removablyattached to the lower end of said frame carried by the bar, one of saidstop members engaging the movable member to secure the same in a desiredposition.

WALLACE H. BRACKEN.

